The present invention relates to storage and organization apparatuses, specifically apparatuses for storing and organizing connection cables and power cords associated with wall mounted televisions and related components.
With the advances in technology, the rear projection television is a thing of the past and the new industry standard has become the flat panel plasma, LCD, or LED television. In addition to the heightened level of clarity, the noticeably thinner design is one of the defining characteristics of this new television technology.
The thinner design has made it possible to mount a television on virtually any flat surface in one's home.
It has become more and more common for people to mount a large screen flat panel television on one of the walls in their home to create a personal home theatre in their chosen room. Mounting a television on a wall is a space-efficient method of placing the television one's home and when done properly a wall mounted television can be a decorative addition the home.
Many people choose to incorporate additional components such as multi-speaker surround sound audio systems, digital video disk (DVD) players, digital video recording (DVR) systems, as well as digital or cable television receivers into their home theatres to enhance their viewing experience.
Each additional component, however, requires an additional connection cable and often times, an additional electric power cord. Often times the connection cables and power cords get tangled together and form an unsightly jumbled knot of cables and cords. With each additional component the unsightly jumbled knot grows and grows. Even if the cables and cords do not become knotted together, the additional cables and cords form a distracting and unsightly cascade of cables and cords from the television set down to the floor.
The jumbled knot or cascading cables and cords detract from the decorative, sleek, and clean visual effect many seek in a wall mounted television set.
Professional installation services can hide the unsightly jumble of cables and cords behind the wall to which the television is mounted using a “drill and feed” method whereby typically an entry hole and an exit hole are drilled in the wall to which the television is mounted and then the cables and cords are fed through the entry hole, behind the wall and then out the exit hole to the television or related component. However, the homeowner is left to fend for him or herself each time a component is added, removed or replaced. For many, this can be a daunting task.
Moreover, the drill and feed method, uses the wall to hide the cables and cords and therefore makes accessing the cables and cords extremely difficult.
In order to solve the problem of hiding, accessing and organizing the multitude of connection cables and power cords necessary for the additional components in one's home theatre, the inventors have invented the present invention, specifically a home theatre cable and cord organizing apparatus comprising essentially of a cable and cord storage compartment, a power strip receiving port, an access plate, and a plurality of mounting clips. The home theatre cable and cord organizing apparatus allows for easy installation, easy access and aesthetic concealment of the multitude of connection cables and power cords associated with wall mounted home theatres.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an organizational apparatus that can be easily installed.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an organizational apparatus that allows for easy access to connection cables and power cords associated with wall mounted home theatres.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an organizational apparatus that provides for the aesthetic concealment of the connection cables and power cords associated with wall mounted home theatres.
Information relevant to attempts to address these objectives can be found in previous attempts to address the foregoing problem can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,055; U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,895; U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,140; U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,875; United States Patent Publication No. 2006/0146463; and United States Patent Publication No. 2005/0231080. However, each of these references suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages: the reference fails to disclose a self mounting apparatus, the reference does not provide for a wall mounting apparatus, the reference does not provide an apparatus with a mounting flange, and the reference does not provide for an apparatus with a port for receiving a power strip.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a wall mounted television cable and cord organizing apparatus that allows for easy installation, easy access and aesthetic concealment of the multitude of connection cables and power cords associated with wall mounted home theatres.